Apparatus for washing, separating, and concentrating starch.



F. L. JEFFERIES. APPARATUS FOR WASHING, SEPARATING, AND CONGENTRATINGSTARGH.

APPLICATION FILED THE. 6, 1911.

Patented Nbv.7,1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

P. L. JEFFERIESI.

S FOR WASHING, SEPARATING, AND OONGENTRATING STARCH.

APPARATU APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6,1911.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

1 3 SHEETS"SHEBT 2.

F. L. JEPPERIES.

APPARATUS FOR WASHING, SEPARATING, AND CONOBNTRATING STARCH. APPLICATIONFILED 121m, 1911.

1 ,007,785 Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHBET 3.

mm as a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREIDRICK LESTER JEFFERIES, OF GRANITE CITY, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TD CORNPRODUCTS REFINING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR WASHING, SEPARATING, AND CONCENTRATING STARCH.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 6, 1911.

Serial No. 606,896.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDRICK L. JEF- FERIES, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing -at Granite City, in the county of Madlson and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatusfor Washing, Separating, and Concentrating Starch, of which thefollowing 1s a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for washing, separating andconcentrating starch, and the invention has for its object to providecertainnew and improved constructions,devices and arrangements in tapparatus suitable for performing work 'of this sort which will behereinafter described and claimed.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide an apparatussuitable for use in making the separation between the starch particlesand the other constituents of the grain, after the germ has been removedand the residue ground up, in which the separating operation isperformed, in part at least, by rotary reels arranged and operated in anovel manner instead of with the ordinary flat shakers. While it hasbeenproposed to use reels instead of shakers for making this separation,so far as 1 am aware, no practical form of apparatus has ever beendevised for carrying out the idea, the separation in question havingbeen, until my invention was put in practice, universally carried out bymeans of the shakers. Ordinarily the grain after being ground is passedfirst over a set of relatively coarse shakers. These shakers areprovided with a series of sprinklers and-the material receives a seriesof washings first with the starch liquor and afterward with fresh water.

The resultant liquors are divided according to densities, some of thelightest-being used for washing again or mixing into the process atother stages, the more concentrated being passed over fine mesh shakers.The liquor from this set of shakers settling tanks, the solid matter 1sreturned to the bur mills. Although this has been the common method fora number of years,-

it is open to several objections. In the first place, the washing is notthoroughly done so that there is always a good deal of starch whichtails off from the shakers with the bran. The losses of solid substancescarried ofl? in thewater. are also considerable.

oes to the in the building in which the shakers are located.

Patented Nov. 7, 191 1.

The apparatus ofthe resent invention has obviated some of the a oveobjections to the old system of washing, and minimized others.-

Generally. speaking, the invention consists, in its principalcharacteristic of novelty, in the arrangement of a' series of reelsthrough which the material is run successively and through which thewashing liquor is run in reverse order. That is, the tailings from thefirst .reel are carried to the next reel and so on through the series,while the fresh washing liquid, fresh water or very light starch water,is introduced'int-o the last reel of the series, and when drained offfrom the same, more concentrated by-the addition of starch particleswashed from the bran in the reel, is mixed with the material nexttreated in the next precedin reel of the series, and so on until it isdischarged as a relatively heavy starch liquor, from the first reel.

, The apparatus is shown and will be described as employing r'otaryreelsfor making the desired separation the primary object of my inventionbeing to provide asuitable form of-reeling apparatus for-makin theseparation in question; but I apprehen that some advantage might beretained if the ordinary shakers were used instead of the reels in anarrangement substantially such as the arrangement herein shown anddescribed.

The invention has for further objects such other new and improvedconstructions, ar-

rangements and devices in. apparatus for washing, separating andconcentrating starch as will be hereinafter more particularly describedand claimed.

The invention. is shown, in a referred embodiment, in the accompanyingrawings, in which- Figure 1 isa diagrammatic view of the washing,separating and concentrating apparatus as a whole; Fig. 2, alongitudinal sectional elevation of one of the reels and associatedparts; Fig. 3, an end elevation of the same; Fig. 4, a fragmentary.sectional view taken on line 1-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5,'a

fragmentary elevation of one face or side.

of the reel; Fig. 6, a detail section on line 6--6 of Fig. 5'; Fig. 7, adetail section on 1ine7-7 of Fig. 5; Fig. 8, a view, in perspective, ofthe end of one of theguiding strips for the metal screening elements,and

lugs 11 at oppositeends, in which bearings turns .the'shaft 12 whichcarries the reel. Preferably the reel is polygonal in cross section, Ihave shown it hexagonal, and consists of a frame work secured to shaft12, and a number of screening elements removably mounted. on ,the framework. I have shown three six arm spiders formed by the spokes 13' whichextend through the square part 14 of shaft 12. The arms of the spidersare formed at their ends with the projecting led es I5to which aresecured, for example by Fhe screws 16, the wooden strips or longitudinalframe members 17 which run the length of the reel. To each of .the twoangularly disposed faces of the frame members I 17 is secured by meansof the screws 18 the longitudinal strips. 19 recessed at intervalstoreceive the tenons 20' of the'cross pieces or guiding strips 21. Thelatter are secured to the longitudinal strips by means of screws 22. Thecross pieces are formed along oppositeedges with the kerfs 23. The tenonat each end has a projection 24 on its upper surface, the height ofwhich is the same as the'width of kerfs 23. "Resting on theseprojections and secured thereto by the screws- 25 are the strips 26which run the lengthof the reel and, because of'proje'ctions 24, arespaced away fromthe strips 19. The screening elements consist of a'number .of perforatedmetal, preferably cop er, plates 27 which areslipped. throuh t e spaces between strips 19 and 26 an into the kerfs 23in the cross pieces 21. These-perforated plates 'orscreens are heldill-P08111011 in any suitable manner, for example, by means of thescrews 28. 6O

I Supported on the frame work 10 under the rail is a trough 29 whichdischarges through a. pipe a at its lower end. Beyond the trough is atailings discharge spout 3'0. a designates a pipe through which 'thematerial to be treated is conducted to the interior of the screen, and

eta pipe leading from the tailings discharge chute. p is a pipe whichdischarges liquid into the tailings chute for the purpose of carryingtailings down pipe 0.. The urpose of these parts will be apparent fromthe description of the apparatus as a whole. The shaft 12 may be drivenin any suitable manner. For example, it may be provided with a bevelgear 31 drlven by a bevel pinion 32 on a shaft 33 provided with a be tpulley 34. In Fig. 9 1 have shown a modified construction in which finestrips of bolting cloth 35 are tacked to a suitable reel frame work 36.

The apparatus as a whole, in a preferred form, is showndiagrammaticallv1n Fig. 1. Referring to this figure, A, B, C, D and E designate fivereels preferabl'y'of the sort above'described, althou h it will beunderstood that reels of a different construction might be employed. Alarger number of units than this might obviously be employed, andfurthermore, each unit mi ht consist of several reels operated in paralel instead of the single reel shown. The particular installation whichI have inmind in describing the invention employs three reels at A,three at B, two at C, one at Dand two at E. I have not shown herein suchan arrangement as it would mean simply the needless multiplication oflines in the drawing,-as it will be obvious that two or three reelsworking in parallel would operate in the. same way as a single reelexcept that in employing a plurality of reels to constitute the severalunits, the number of reels in each unit or set may be made to differ inaccordance with the amount of work which has to be done at theparticular stage of the separation.

F designates a bur mill in which the corn is ground. A is a tub whichreceives the ground grain from the mill F through pipe 1, and B C, D andE are change tubs which receive the tailings from, respectively, A, B, Cand D. A ump a and ipe a take the material in tu A and de iver it toreel A. The pipe an conducts the starch liquor from the reel A. Thispipe, as shown, connects with a pipe a which leads to the heavy starchwell G. The tailings from reel A go through the pipe a to the tub B. Thesubsequent reels and change tubs in the series have similar connectionswhich, having been correspondingly designated on the drawings need notbe adverted to separately,

, except that, in the particular installation shown, the pipe I) fromreel B leads to a light starch liquor tub H, the starch liquor dischargepipes 0 d, e, leadingback into, respectively, change tubs B, O and Dwhile the tailings discharge pipe 6 from reel E leads to the expeller I.The liquid from the expeller' I is shown as returned to the systemthrough a pipe 13' which leads to the tub E. The bran from the expelleris carried by means of a suitable conveyer z" to the feed repository Jshown conventionally in the drawing. I

The reels A, B, C, D and E have relatively coarse screens such, forexample, as the perforated copper plates of the reel construction shown1n Figs. 2 to 8 inclusive. As a result, some gluten or other foreignmatter may be found in the starch liquor when it reaches the heavystarch Well G. Preferably therefore I make a re-separation of thisliquor upon fine mesh silk shakers K and L, of ordinary construction,although a fine mesh silk reel might also be effectively used at thispoint.

The liquor in the starch well is carried by means of pump is and pipe isto shaker K, the tailings from which pass through pipe 70 to tub K fromwhich they are taken by pump Z and pipe Z to the second shaker L, thetailings from which go through a pi e Z into the light starch water tubH. T e

starch liquor from shaker K is conducted by a pipe 71: and that fromshaker L by a pipe l to the starch tables which are representedconventionally at M. The starch liquor from reel B has been describedas.

going to the light starch water tub H. In order to remove the gluten andother foreign particles from this liquid, it is put through a separatingoperation in two silk reels N and O of the sort indicated by Fig. 9. Apump a and pipe n takes the starch Water from tub H to reel N Where itis mixed with a fresh wash water, for example, sulfur water, introducedthrough a pipe M. The starch liquor from N passes through a pipe a intoa cone settler P. The tailings from reel N pass through a pipe a intothe second silk reel 0 which is supplied with fresh wash water, for examle sulfur water, through a pipe 0 The tailings from reel 0 pass by meansof a conveyer o to the feed repository J The starch liquor from- 0 goesthrough a pipe 0 to the light starch water tub H. The heavy starchliquor from settler P "goes through a pipe p to the starch well G., Theoverflow from the top of settler P passes through a pipe 72 which has avalved. branch discharging into the change tub E through the tailingsspout of reel D. Preferably also the pipe has the valved branches p, p,p, leading, respectively, to the tailings spouts of reels A, B and C. Abranch p1pe p similarly leads to the tailings spout of shaker K.

While I have shown a practical system involving a certain particulardisposition of the apparatus, it will be readily understood that theremight be very considerable change in these details which are some ofthem matters of but little importance.

The operation of the above described apparatus when used in making theseparation ready for the starch tables.

between the starch particles and the other constituents of the oundgrain, is as follows: The grain which has been first broken up and thegerm removed, is ground in the bur mill F andthen goes to tub A. It ismixed with liquid in the mill and more liquid, water or light starchliquor, may be supplied if necessary when it reaches the change tub A.From here it goes to reel A and if the resultant starch liquor derivedis sufficiently. concentrate (and this is contemplated by thearrangement shown and described) it is simply subjected to areseparation in shakers K and L and then is The tailings from reel A gointo the change tub B and are there mixed with starch liquid from thereel C. The mixed material is then subjected to another separation inthe reel B. The tailings from B go into the tub C and there are mixedwith starch liq uor from the reel D and then go into reel (1. A similaroperation takes place in connection with the separationin reels D and E.The tailings from E go to the expeller I, the liquid from the expellerback to change tub E, while the dry bran is conveyed to the feedrepository J. The starch liquor from B goes through pipe 1) into thelight starch water tank H, then through the silk reels N and O andfinally to the settler P, the heavy starch liquor from the bottom ofwhich goes to the starch well G or other suitable reservoir, while thelight liquid at the top of the settler is used as a wash water in theoperations above described. It will be seen that the material to beseparated is passed successively through the reels A, B, C, D, E, andiswashed, so far as the separation in B, C, D and E is concerned, w th aliquid which becomes constantly heavier because of this circulationthrough the reels in the direction reverse to that taken by the bran.Obviously if the starch li uor withdrawn from reel B is found su cientlyconcentrate for the purpose for which it is to be used, the settler Pcould be eliminated. It will'be evident further that if desired theindependently operated first reel A might be omitted.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of apparatus forcarrying out my invention there might be other changes made, than thoseabove indicated, in the arrangement and connections of the variousinafter another in reverse order.

I do not claim herein the process of se arating starch particlesfromother ingre ients of the grain which is here described incidentallyas this process ismade the subject matter of my-copending application,SerialNo. 606,895, filed February 6, 1911.

"I claim: I

- 1. Iii-apparatus of the characterdescribed, the combination with aseries of reels, of mean'sffor causing the material treated to besuccessively passed through a plurality of said reels and for causingthe washing liquid to be passed through a plurality of said reels inreverse order.-

2. In apparatus of the character described,

the combination with a series of reels, of

. means for causing the material treated to be successively passedthrough said reels one after'the other, and for causing the washingliquor to be passed through SttldIBGlS one '3.' In apparatus of thecharacter described, the combination with a series of reels, of meansfor causing the material treated to be successively passed through aplurality of said reels and for causing the washing liquid to be passedthrough a plurality of said reels in reverse order, and screeningmechanism for making a second separation as between the constituents ofthe concentrated liquor withdrawn from said reels.

" 4. In apparatus of thecharacter described,

the combination with'a series of reels, of a corresponding series ofchange vessels from which said reels are. respectively supplied, meansfor conducting the tailings from said reels to the'change vessels of thereels re- I spectively farther on" in the series, and means forconducting the liquor from said reels to respectively the change vesselsor reels farther back in the series.

5. In apparatus of the character described, the-combination'with aseries of reels, of a corresponding series of change vessels from whichsaid reels are respectively supplied,

1 means for conducting the tailings from said reels to the changevessels of the reels re- 1 spectively next subsequent in the series, and

'meansfor conducting the liquor from said reels to the vessels of thereels respectively next precedent in the series.

,6; In apparatus of the character described, the combination with aseries of reels, of a corresponding series of change vessels from whichsaid reels'are respectively supplied,

I means for conducting the tailings from sald reels to thechange vesselsof the reels respectively next subsequent in the series, means forconducting the liquor from said reels to the-vessels of the reelsrespectively next precedent in theseries, and means for Y addingfreshliquor to the material treated in the last reel of the series. I

I 7. Ina paratus ofthe character described,

the comblnation with a series of reels, of a corresponding series ofchange vessels from which said reels are respectively supplied, meansfor conducting the tailings from said reels to the change vessels of thereels respectively next subsequent in the series, means for conductingthe liquor from said reels to the vessels of the reels respectively nextprecedent in the series, means for adding fresh liquor to the materialtreated in the last reel of the series, and means for withdrawing liquorfrom the first reel of the series and subjecting it to a second andcloser separation.

8. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with aseries of reels, of means for causing the material treated to besuccessively passed through a plurality of said reels and for causingthe washin liquid to be passed through a plurality 0 said reels inreverse order, an expeller which receives. the tailings from the lastreel, and means for conducting the liquid from the expeller back to thelast reel.

9. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with aseries of reels provided with metal screening elements, of acorresponding series of change vessels from which said reels arerespectlvely supplied, means for conducting the tailings from said reelsto the change vessels of the reels respectively next subsequent in theseries, means for conducting the liquor from said reels to the changevessels of the reels respectively next precedent in the series,screening devices provided with bolting cloth screens, and means forconducting the concentrated liquor from the first of said series ofreels to said screening devices.

10. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with aseries of reels provided with metal screening elements, of acorresponding series of change vessels from which said reels arerespectively supplied, means for conducting the tailings from said reelsto the change vessels of the reels respectively next subsequent in theseries, means for conducting the liquor from said reels to the changevessels of the reels re- 'spectively next precedent in the series, silkreels of finer mesh, and means for conducting the concentrated liquorfrom said first mentioned series of reels to said silk reels.

11. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with areel, of a screening device of finer mesh adapted to receive the liquorfrom said reel, a series of reels similar to said first mentioned reel,means for passin the tailings from the first mentioned reel t rough saidseries of reels in succession, means for introducing fresh washingliquid into the material treated in the last reel of said series, meansfor withdrawing the liquor from each of said series of reels, except thefirst, and mixing it with the material treated in the preceding reel ofthe series, and means for se' arately discharging the liquor from saidrst reel and from the first of said series of reels.

12. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with areel, of'a screening device of finer mesh adapted to receive the liquorfrom said reel, a series of reels similar to said first mentioned reel,means for passing the tailings from the first mentioned reel throughsaid series of reels in succession, means for introducing fresh washingliquid into the material treated in the last reelof said series, meansfor withdrawing the liquor from each of said series of reels, except thefirst, and mixing itwith the material treated in the preceding reel ofthe series, means for se arately discharging the liquor from said rstreel and from the first of said series of reels, and means for makinfurther separations as between the ingre ients of said liquors.

13. In apparatus of the character described, the combination withaseries of screening elements, of a corresponding series of changevessels from whlch said screening elements are respectivelysupplied,means for conducting the tailings from said screening elementsto the change vessels ofthe screening elements respectively nextsubsequent in a or addin the series, means for conducting the liquorfrom said screening elements to the vessels of the screening elementsrespectively next precedent in the series, means for adding fresh liquorto the material treated in the last screening element of the series, andmeans for withdrawing the liquor from the first screening element.

14. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with aseries of rotary screening elements, of a corres 0nding series of changevessels from whic said screening elements are respectively supplied,means for conducting the tailings from said screening elements to thechange'vessels of the screening elements respectively next subsequent'inthe series, means for conducting the liquor'from said screening elementsto the vessels of the screening elements res ectively next precedent-inthe series, means fres liquor to the material treated in the astscreening element of the series, and means, for withdrawing the liquorfrom the first screening element;

FREDRICK LESTER JEFFERIESI Witnesses:

F. M. Sam, A. N. Homn.

